Vail Daily letter: Just common sense ...

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As a result of the gerrymandering done to the 3rd Congressional District by the Colorado State Legislature, half of Eagle County now has a new U.S. representative.

Instead of Jared Polis, many of us find ourselves with a representative from Cortez, a mere 360 miles away with the closest congressional office in Grand Junction.

U.S. Rep. Tipton recently sent out a flier to his new constituents asking, "What are some of the issues (that) are most relevant to you and your family." He then lists 11 issues with a box next to each to check. The 11th issue is "Second Amendment/Gun Rights."

Lest he jeopardize his "A" rating from the NRA, the congressman would rather not know if you are concerned about gun violence or gun control. We must ensure that he does know our concern, though.

Americans are demanding that Congress support commonsense reform to our gun laws.

The first step in these reforms is to require a background check for every gun sale. In a number of recent local and national polls, Americans supported universal background checks by over 90 percent.

Coloradoans have been the victims of gun violence far too often, and our elected representatives need to quit representing the gun manufacturers (the NRA) and start representing their constituents.

If you truly listened to gun owners, hunters, moms, grandmothers, you would know that we are not asking to ban gun ownership. We are asking for commonsense laws, many which were the law of the land for years until repealed in the mid-1990s.

Universal background checks, banning automatic assault weapons and high capacity ammunition magazines and making gun trafficking a federal crime with real penalties just make common sense. Mayors Against Illegal Guns, A Million Moms for Gun Control, Americans for Responsible Solutions, Sandy Hook Promise - these organizations are just getting started.

Their members are everyday Americans who are demanding a plan to end the gun violence that has now resulted in assault by a firearm becoming the ninth most common cause of death in America.

We will not, we must not, let the gun manufacturers drown out our voices with their money any longer.